Now What?: The Creative Writer's Guide to Success After the MFA

“. . . just what you need. . .if it’s genuinely useful information you’re looking for, from people who, like you, are trying to keep body and soul and writing together” —The Huffington Post “Yes, writers, there is life after the MFA. Eight or nine years before I found an agent and a publisher, I found a writers’ group. My literary success has been partly about luck but mostly about persistence, humility, a commitment to solitude, and active and ongoing participation in a community of writers. Now What? is an effective primer crafted by a writing community on how to build your own writing community, and other fundamental elements of success as a writer.” —Wally Lamb, New York Times bestselling author of The Hour I First Believed and I Know This Much Is True. “Packed with practical advice. . . good information and inspiration in one convenient package” —The Writer Master the fine art of success as a writer with the first multi-genre writer's guide authored and edited entirely by writers for writers. This comprehensive resource created by writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry helps new creative writing program graduates and aspiring authors of all types survive as writers and continue pursuing their craft. The alumni, faculty and students of Fairfield University’s MFA in Creative Writing program share their experiences, advice and hard-learned lessons on surviving and thriving as writers. A unique blend of practicality and inspiration, this guide features personal essays, editorials, poetry, articles, instruction, checklists, glossaries of key industry and legal terms and other resources authored by more than 40 writers who have faced the challenges and demands of finding their places and voices as authors.

Ashley Andersen Zantop writes and edits fiction and nonfiction. She is group publisher and general manager of Capstone, one of the largest independent publishers of children's supplemental educational and trade titles and reading software. Andersen Zantop earned her MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University, degrees in English literature (AB) and elementary education (AB.ED) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, as well as teaching certificates (CERT K-5, CERT 6-8). Andersen Zantop founded and serves as co-president of the Fairfield University MFA Alumni Association. She lives with her husband and daughter in Minneapolis, Minnesota.